I'm in love with Jesus and am a Children's Librarian... that pretty much describes what motivates me! So these are my thoughts... on the amazingness of my Creator and Savior, as well as on work experiences and awesome books.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Grabbing at the Wind

Have you ever felt like there's so much going on or so many thoughts in your head, it's like little tiny somethings flying in the wind past you. You can grab all you want, but you pull back empty air. The past couple of weeks and months (and years!) have been so full of... life... things God's teaching me, relationships, library things, good books, good times, hard-but-still good times. And because the weeks have been so full, it's hard to put it into thoughts, even if I tried to pick just one area to concentrate on.

God's been kicking my butt through a Watchman Nee book called The Release of the Spirit. Ouch. Seriously. Not that I agree 100% with everything said, but it's really made me think and challenged and convicted me. And it's been a long while since a book has made me "actively read" so hard. What do I mean by that? I mean my brain had to be engaged or I got nothing. It was the opposite end from beach read, yet not so difficult that I was confused or frustrated. Actually, I take back the confusing part... but definitely in a good way. It talked about how believers must be broken in order to serve God best. And just knowing about Nee's life as a man on the front lines of the early 20th Century Chinese Church... his life was pretty amazing.

And work? It was crazy getting signups out for this year's Summer Reading program. 75 programs over 2 months. No assistant this year, but luckily I have an intern and a former Teen Advisory Board member helping. But Saturday when the signups went out, there were once again 10+ moms outside the doors before we opened. A constant stream of parents for the first four hours. I forget when the K-1st grade program filled last summer, but I think it was at least the end of the day or maybe even the beginning of the next day. One day... that's pretty crazy for 8 programs, 15 spots per program. But I was shocked this Saturday when they were filled by 10:30am! An hour and a half!?!? I don't know how I can fit another program into my summer schedule, but after seeing a couple kindergarteners cry this week because it was already filled by the time their parents came in, I'm determined to try to add another time for the program next summer. It was one crazy fun day, explaining the programs, seeing all the families who came out, and I'm super excited for the programs this summer! I'll have to write about what I've chosen to do for the book discussions sometime soon! High school's readingThe Alchemyst by Michael Scott. Middle school's doing Jeff Kinney's extremely popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-it-Yourself, and 4-5th grade is using the Daring Book for Girls/Dangerous Book for Boys. But what makes these programs so exciting is what we're doing for the "discussions"... that's all the tease you'll get for now!

And at youth group, the school year's winding down, so that means that we have to say goodbye to our 8th graders. But thankfully, it's not really goodbye. I love the "fluidity" between our high school and middle school groups. And come Red Carpet Night, we get to meet a whole new group of 6th graders! This has been one amazing school year, and God's done some great things through this group! I've been so proud of our middle schoolers through the Lucid Service Series. We've welcomed a youth pastor and his family who all sides know God has placed in our church family. It's been a very good year!